Wall Street Journal: The Tax Revolt Returns
Press Release – April 11, 2024
SACRAMENTO, CA- The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article highlighting how California’s current political environment and high cost of living are setting the stage for the passage of the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (TPA) —and potentially leading to a wave of taxpayer protection efforts across America.
Authored by Daniel Henninger, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated columnist for the Wall Street Journal, the article discusses the importance of the TPA, calling it “the second coming of Proposition 13,” often referred to as the state’s most important tax reform to date.
The article highlights Governor Newsom and his special interest allies’ attempts to use the court system to defeat the proposed ballot measure. Additionally, Henninger dives into the long history of California political leaders’ enthusiasm for new and higher taxes, which laid the groundwork for the passage of Proposition 13–drawing parallels to the current landscape as Californians prepare to decide the fate of the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act this November.
Read excerpts from the article below:
“A large group of California’s businesses and taxpayer associations has assembled enough signatures to put a significant antitax measure on the November ballot.
“This is the second coming of Proposition 13, the California antitax initiative that passed in 1978…
“Needless to say, California’s current governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, is appalled. Along with state political officials and union leaders, he has taken out newspaper ads calling the two-thirds tax hurdle ‘dangerous, an overreach and irresponsible.’ Opponents also filed a lawsuit to remove the measure from the ballot.
“Call me irresponsible, but this sounds like the best thing since political activists Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann kick-started California’s tax revolt in the 1970s. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is a co-sponsor of the new ballot measure.
“Proposition 13 was primarily about property taxes. In the years since, California’s Democrats have raised personal and business taxes, imposed fees, spent lavishly, and gained overwhelming control of the Legislature.
“The original Proposition 13 came to life not because its advocates opposed taxes for public services but because the state’s liberal political class, including public unions, was incapable of restraint.
“Notwithstanding the property-tax measure, California’s Democrats for the past four decades have taxed and regulated the state into unaffordability for much of the state’s population. They’ve blown through the roof on costs for housing, healthcare, utilities and insurance.
“In short, the politics and compulsions of social welfare and climate control have siphoned revenue away from basic services.”
You can learn more about the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act at TaxpayerProtection.com.
